


More Than Like

by Tippens101



Category: Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-25
Updated: 2015-08-25
Packaged: 2018-04-17 05:34:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4654254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tippens101/pseuds/Tippens101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ben felt Susie drop herself into a sitting position next to him on the stage, where he was looking over the list they had made together for the day's theater activities. He felt a sense of dread surge up in him when, from his peripheral vision, he saw Susie give him that look she had perfected over the course of their friendship.</p><p>"So, how are you and McKinley doin'?" she asked innocently.</p>
            </blockquote>





	More Than Like

**Author's Note:**

> Co-written with http://obtuce.tumblr.com

Being friends with Susie, Ben found out, was a lot like dating her, except he only had to dodge her attempts at kissing him when she was drunk. Which, granted, was about every night during their special staff parties, but it was still a lot better then avoiding those lips 24/7. Ben discovered that the biggest difference was that Susie wanted to talk more. A lot more. Mostly about things Ben would rather not discuss.

**********

Ben felt Susie drop herself into a sitting position next to him on the stage, where he was looking over the list they had made together for the day's theater activities. He felt a sense of dread surge up in him when, from his peripheral vision, he saw Susie give him that look she had perfected over the course of their friendship.

"So, how are you and McKinley doin'?" she asked innocently. Ben sighed and looked up. Everyday Susie had asked him this question, wanting to know what and how they were doing, where and when they would be doing it, if she could tag along. She had insisted that this was the type of things friends talked about, and Ben could never bring himself to tell her it was "None of her damn business," as McKinley had suggested he put it.

"Fine," was his simple answer. He hoped that she wouldn't ask anymore questions, because the truth was that a small part of him wanted to tell her about how amazing it was to be with McKinley. How exciting and happy and just plain awesome it felt just to be near him. 

Of course though, she had to keep going. "Have you two done it yet?"

Ben was caught off-guard, though he probably should not have been. He had expected her to ask that eventually, Susie being the more sex-obsessed of the two, but he had been hoping that she wasn't that invasive.

He cleared his throat, ignoring the blush he felt on his face and said, "Uhm, no. Not yet."

Susie's jaw dropped. "Are you kidding? You guys have been together for eight days!"

Ben raised an eyebrow at her. "Susie, you and I went out longer than that."

She waved a hand at him dismissively. "That was completely different. How did you- have you been using that bullshit with the moon again?"

"Uhm, well..."

Susie slammed a hand down on the stage, startling Ben. "You need to suck it up, quit stalling, and do it with him already! Sex is not that big of a deal."

"Well, I want it to be a big deal!" He could not believe he had said that out loud.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Susie asked, confused.

"Well it's j- I mean he- and w-" he couldn't stop stammering. Thankfully, he didn't have to finish his sentence fragments because Susie interrupted with, "Oh my god, you are in love with him! I thought that was just your dick talking."

"It doesn't matter, because I don't even know how."

"I do," said a voice from the direction of the theater seats, where several ten- to twelve-year-olds had been sitting for the past ten minutes, watching Ben and Susie's exchange. "I saw this video once."

Susie pointed to Ben and said, "Tell him, not me."

**********

"And then Andy farts again and laughs, and this time Katie rolled her eyes all annoyed, and she looked at me and actually smiled!" Coop took a deep breath and exhaled, a grin on his face.

McKinley said, from his seat across from him on the picnic table, "Do you think it's at all concerning you have been talking about Katie and Andy for six and half minutes straight?"

Coop tilted his head in thought. "Nope," he responded, shaking his head slightly.

"You know, you could actually have a conversation with her instead of pining for her from afar."

"Oh, I couldn't do that!" Coop looked genuinely horrified. "How would I even do that? That is just crazy. And also, a little unfair coming from you."

"What the hell does that even mean?"

"Because you are already with someone, duh," Coop looked at his friend as if he were an idiot. "Like, you don't have to go through this stuff. People like me, who aren't having crazy sex every night, have it worse than people like you."

McKinley rolled his eyes. "We haven't had sex yet, not that it's your business." Coop raised his eyebrows in surprise. "And it probably won't happen this summer."

"What? Why not?"

McKinley shrugged. "I'm pretty sure he's a virgin, so I don't want to rush him."

**********

Surprisingly, Ben had never in his life had a panic attack, so he wasn't entirely sure if he was having one while he was learning about the mechanics of creative sex.

"So, basically," the kid-Matthew, Ben thought-was saying, "you're getting a penis up your butt." 

"Won't... won't that hurt?"

"Well, something is being shoved up your ass, so yeah probably," the kid answered matter-of-factly.

"Oh no, I can't do that!"

**********

"He is just really sweet, y'know?" Coop nodded, everyone at camp agreed Ben was the sweetest guy around. "I just don't want him to do something he might regret. I mean, it's not that big of a deal, but I really wanted to bang him. So, it's whatever."

"It's weird to hear you being this serious," Coop said. "You must really like him."

"I more than like him."

**********  
"He's gonna dump me," Ben said as he paced back and forth on the stage. "Then the rest of the summer will be so awkward and my life will be totally ruined!" 

Susie, who had been tracking Ben's movement with her eyes, got up and stopped him by grabbing his wrists. "You can do this," she said, looking into his eyes. She stood on her tiptoes and moved her hands to his shoulders. "This will happen. You are completely capable of getting a dick up your ass. And I am going to help you."

Please do not, Ben thought. "Okay," he said, nodding.

**********

Susie's plan made Ben nervous, mostly because he thought it was a terrible idea. The first thing she did was take the blanket off of his bed and shove it into his arms. Then she made him follow her to the kitchen fifteen minutes before lunch was called and steal some food, plates, and forks, which made Ben fearful because the thought of Gene catching them was terrifying. She carefully placed the food covered plates and the eating utensils into a bucket she had found behind the camp office and gave it to Ben.

"Alright," Susie said when Ben had everything she said he needed, "now take everything to that secret spot you won't tell me the location of." 

"How is Mckinley going t-"

"Don't worry," she interrupted, patting Ben on the back. "I got everything covered."

So he took off to the sports equipment shed and spread the blanket onto the floor. It wasn't really necessary, Susie had probably assumed his and McKinley's spot was somewhere outside, but the floor was incredibly dirty so it was nice to have something to sit on for once. He put one plate in front of him and the across from him. The food on his plate had gotten squished, macaroni salad and mashed potatoes merging into a strange mush. He heard a knock at the door and looked up, smiling when he saw McKinley.

"So I found this note on my bed," he said, holding up a small piece of paper. He closed the door behind him and sat down across from Ben and read it. "'Come to our secret place, wherever that is.' Susie wrote it?"

Ben rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Yeah, uh, she said she thought that you and I need some more alone time. Together. Away from everyone." 

"Ah," McKinley responded. "She is kind of... intrusive, don't you think?" 

"Mmhmm," Ben responded, "sometimes it's just easier to go along with what she wants."

"Must be terrible for you." Ben nodded and McKinley laughed.

They ate their lunch, and Ben realized Susie did not steal them anything to drink, which really sucked because his mouth was getting drier the more he thought about what him and McKinley were going to do. While they ate, they talked about how annoying the bugs were and the heat. McKinley made a particularly hilarious joke that involved Andy and a woodland creature doing something sinful with him, and it made Ben laugh so hard he started to tear up. They talked about home and musicals and school, until finally they had finished eating and Ben knew he had to initiate it at that moment or he would lose his nerve. 

The second after they discarded their plates and forks into the bucket, Ben crawled the short distance to his boyfriend and kissed him full on the mouth. McKinley made a surprised noise but kissed back, placing his hands on Ben's hips to keep him steady.

Kissing McKinley was something Ben loved to do; the other boy's lips were pink and soft and fit perfectly against his own. It was hard to tear himself away, but he had to when he took his shirt off. He noticed his boyfriend's surprised look and subsequent shrug, and when Ben saw him start to take his own shirt off, he pushed his hands away and took it off for him. He threw both their shirts across the shed and immediately started kissing Mckinley again.

Oh God, I got to take his pants off now, Ben thought. Heart hammering in his chest, he lightly ran his down from McKinley's shoulders and down to his hips, slipping his thumbs into the boy's shorts and p-

"Whoa," McKinley said as he pulled away from Ben, pushing the taller teen's hands away. "What are ya doing there?"

Oh no. "Well I just th- I mean I was s- an-and you were gonna..." Face growing hotter by the second, Ben tried to control his breathing. "I thought we were gonna... y'know. Do it. D-d-don't you want to?"

"Well of course I do, but I thought we would wait awhile since you never did before."

Ben felt crushed. Humiliated. Stupid. Inadequate. "I am the worst boyfriend ever," he said, a lump forming in his throat. He kept his eyes trained on his lap. "I am such an idiot. I shouldn't have... Should've told you or something. I really don't know what the hell I'm doing." His eyes started to well up with tears, but he forced them back. How the hell could he have been so presumptuous, thinking McKinley wanted to have sex with him? Of course he didn't, why would he? Ben was just some virgin loser who didn't deserve to be in this other boy's presence.

"Hey," he heard McKinley say. Suddenly he felt arms wrap around him. He tensed up a little when McKinley started to rub his back. "It's okay, Ben. I just didn't want you to feel uncomfortable." That did it. Ben could not hold back the tears anymore. He started crying and he tried to be silent, but a small whimper escaped him. McKinley hugged him tighter. "Don't cry, Ben. It's okay, it's okay."

When the tear slowed down and felt he like he could breather again, he said, "I just thought that maybe..." He trailed off and Mckinley let go and looked him in the eyes. "I-I thought you would like me more if we did... that."

"I don't like you," McKinley stated, and Ben felt his heart shatter into a million pieces, but then Mckinley smiled and said, "I love you, Ben."

"I love you, too," Ben right away said.

"We can take things slow. And, you know there are a lot of other things you can do when you love somebody." He started rubbing Ben's back again. "I would still be in love with you if we never had sex."

"Really?" Ben asked, so sweetly, and McKinley nodded and kissed him chastely. "Even if we were married?"

Mckinley stopped. "What?"

"What if we were married and we still hadn't done it? Would you still love me then?"

"W-w-w-well, uh, y-y-yeah," McKinley stuttered out. "Of course, I-I-I mean," he took a long, deep breath. "Yes, even if we were married and had not had sex, I would still love you."

Ben smiled so brightly it would have put the flashiest Christmas tree to shame


End file.
